The student appears to be sitting beside a monk in a temple — but she’s at home in grey Amsterdam. Picture: Zilla van den Born/Rex FeaturesSource:Austral International Press Agency

The 25-year-old faked the trip using Photoshop and props from her house, to show how easy it is to create a filtered image of our lives on social media.

Zilla’s parents dropped her at the airport on 23 April, believing she was off to see Thailand, Cambodia and Laos over a month-long holiday.

Instead, she secretly returned to her flat, and lived undercover while posting fake images and status updates on Facebook.

“I did this to show people that we filter and manipulate what we show on social media,” she said. “Thereby we create an online ideal world which reality can no longer meet. My goal was to prove how common and easy it is to distort reality.”

A plain background allowed Zilla to add herself into this photo of a temple. Picture: Zilla van den Born/Rex FeaturesSource:Austral International Press Agency

She set up a fake Thai hotel interior for photos and Skype sessions. Picture: Zilla van den Born/Rex Features/AustralSource:Austral International Press Agency

Zilla even showed off her packing on social media. Picture: Zilla van den Born/Rex Features/AustralSource:Austral International Press Agency

The graphic designer spent most of her time indoors to avoid bumping into people she knew, wearing sunglasses and a hat as a disguise when she went out.

Meanwhile, she turned her flat into an Asian paradise, setting up a hotel shot using draped fabrics and fairy lights.

She photoshopped herself into images of beautiful beaches, temples and tropical gardens.

She even sent a postcard home and photographed herself snorkelling in her local swimming pool.

When the university project was complete, she revealed the truth to her friends and family and filmed their shocked reactions.

It just goes to show — other people’s lives may not be as perfect as they seem on Facebook.

Her status updates were geotagged with Thailand as the location. Picture: Zilla van den Born/Rex FeaturesSource:Austral International Press Agency

Every detail of her departure was faithfully recorded online. Picture: Zilla van den Born/Rex FeaturesSource:Austral International Press Agency